There were 590,882 Mainland visitor arrivals during the eight-day National Day Golden Week holiday period, up 15.8% on the same period last year, the Tourism Board says.

Of the 590,882 visitors, 69% arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme, up 17.1%. Among them 18.5% were Shenzhen permanent residents with multiple entry visa endorsement, meaning a daily average of 9,500 arrivals, which is higher than normal days. Visitors joining group tours to Hong Kong also rose 36.1% to 42,906.

Board chairman James Tien attributed the positive gain mainly to the slight economic improvement, attractive promotional travel packages rolled out during the period and an extended Golden Week this year which coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival.

"While remarkable growth was recorded for Mainland arrivals during the Golden Week period, market conditions remain volatile," he said, adding the board will boost promotion in the coming months.

It has collaborated with the travel trade to roll out Halloween-themed packages in Shanghai and southern China to appeal to younger travellers, and with airlines to promote multi-destination itineraries featuring Hong Kong and Taiwan in various Mainland cities.